#salmon watches exu

[songofwizardry]

i keep getting emotional about this damn redemption paladin and his husband and kid and this damn bird detective and his kids and their codenames and who the fuck let critical role do this to me istg

[songofwizardry]

ExU calamity episode 1: my head is spinning. i have out loud said “what the fuck????” so many times. i am vibrating. feel like i need to rewatch the episode immediately whilst taking notes like i’m in a lecture. have some Thoughts because if I don’t put them somewhere i will explode

[this is very long, bc there was a lot. also very late, because I forgot to finish it and post it. ah well.]

good evening and we open with the weirdest and most terrifying shit you will ever witness. thank you for tuning it

also zerxus has a strength of 29 (giant strength belt?) and an ac of 25 holy shit

a small child fishing for stars in the void? cool cool cool

Aabria is mouthing “what. the. fuck.“ and ma’am I could not agree more

oh cool it’s his son. cool and there’s a dead husband. let’s just start off with emotional damage it’s fine

“Ghor Dranas” ooooooohhh here we go Calamity here we come

“if you can see the stars when you look down, what will you see when you look up?” what a metal line I love it

this is the most opening to ever opening

Loquatious Seelie!

love that Sam is just a presenter. he’s achieved his final form. also his appearance is slightly terrifying. also a Seelie hmmmm. 

this is just Sam’s ad copies with his ridiculous characters taken to the net level I’m Dying

“Exandria Firma” is a great phrase

“Seelie you later!” yes

I love Laerryn instantly. what a vibe

and they’re divorced we spent so long begging for divorced PCs for C3 I am so fucking glad we get to see it here!

hands down Sam is a great person for this dynamic and I am so hyped to see how he and Aabria play off each other

same with Nydas, I am kinda obsessed with the vibe that these PCs are giving off of “extremely busy extremely good at their jobs high up people in a powerful city, on the eve of the biggest event of seven years”

the whole Sphinx drama is incredible

the kites are such a cool idea! also aww a loaf. cute.

a surplus of ether? hmmmm. we are getting into the Magic Theory (TM) over here I am Interested

Cerrit is definitely in a different movie to everyone else. Travis is killing the noir vibe. I love it

also an eisfuura detective that’s really fun

the description of the whole thing being dispelled/obliterated is really cool! I am living for Brennan’s descriptions here

and finally, Marisha!

brumestone jewellery I am loving the description of all the opulence of Patia. also the nepotism

man Brennan is really making the point of these are the people who get shit done, this is where the power lies really well here

sorry the oracles are taking a break????? surely that’s not fucking good!

I love the general disdain everyone has for people attempting the Raven Queen’s ritual

I also love how they’re all casually namedropping vespin fucking chloras as though he’s just..... some dude. which I guess he is right now!

oh also I like how everyone’s storylines are tying together! I initially assumed we would have a bunch of strangers but this makes way more sense and is much more fun

a party! exclusive magic VIP seating! hoddmedods or whatever the fuck! chandeliers and caviar, the world can’t touch us here!

Zerxus’ son is staying with Nydas’ family? wtf this gets more and more intriguing

lol bringing along Bolo is the most fancy rich important person move, great work Loquacious. also Brennan is a delight

“Ghor Dranas is attributed to the Lord of the Hells, a specific phrasing during his defeat. "Put me where you will, I will gather my shadows to me.” oh my god that is an incredible line. I had not considered the phrase ‘gathering of shadows’ in any other context I love that

Loquacious inspiring Laerryn and the perfume smells like their wedding. excuse me who gave you permission to do this to me.

oh cool the piece of metal is the bow of a solar. made of extraplanar gold. and it was destroyed by something older and deeper than a spell. this is vespin summoning a goddamn betrayer to destroy it fucking hell. this is fine.

PURVON SUUL!!!!!!!

absolutely a joy to watch Sam, Travis and Marisha lose their entire shit as he walks in

Aabria knows what’s up, “I’ll tell you later”

“is he wearing armour” “... no” I am loving this so much 

I love how Dean Hollow’s thing of “well this god was one of us before, so we can join them too”. Like the context to the mages’ hubris is so well done and it makes sense!

“And Purvon Suul walks away” need a live Liam cam for this, how’s he reacting to this signature move of apparently all champions of the Raven Queen

the hoddmedod 1 has thoughts and 2 is thinking ghor dranas everything is super fine and ok

Loq taking back what he said with gift of gab... what a spell I love it

okay okay what everyone has been talking about: Cerrit’s 31 on investigation and Brennan’s absolutely genius description of invisibility

I am not gonna lie both the way he’s described invisibility working from a physics standpoint and the delivery of “You have been trained to look for these things. They always move in twos.” will be in my head for a very long time

a stitched together man wtf

“You will never reach the Wildmother’s embrace in time” sorry WHAT. what is happening. excuse me.

and Vespin fucking Chloras is behind the mirror???

holy shit what an episode

okay last thoughts: so much lore, but it’s delivered in such a good way! like I didn’t feel the story stalling or anything it was actually such a fast paced episode! I adored the world building, the feel of Avalir and of the circle of brass as a whole, it’s done so well. and the characters are extremely intriguing

also I know Brennan is amazing and I loved his worldbuilding in eg Unsleeping City, but holy shit has he blown it out of the water with the tension and the pace and the worldbuilding and the threads of mystery and feel of something going wrong here. masterful tension building I adore it

I am so excited this may become my favourite mini-series. cannot wait to see where this goes

[songofwizardry]

after this episode of exu: calamity I need a corkboard and pins and red string because oh boy oh boy is there a LOT going on.

I need to take a walk.

[songofwizardry]

*all time low voice* oh, calamity

(this post made for my fellow niche critical role and all time low fans bc my brain can’t stop doing it every time i see the word)